• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Barbara Bauer Literary Agency / Literary Management Professionals

MMcC

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 19, 2006
Messages
311
Reaction score
59
Location
New England
Website
maureenmccarrie.blogspot.com
What blew me away (at first) about Babs was how shrill her shrieks of outrage were, and how quick she was to invoke the words "attorney, lawyer, libel, lawsuit."

That was then, of course. People who have decent lawyers on retainer DO NOT act like this. (I know.) Why? When you have a really good lawyer on retainer, the money to supplement fees, and a clear conscience, you shrug at the asshats of the world and don't worry about them.

I've been wondering a bit about how she has escaped prosecution herself. My suspicion for a VERY long time is that she has several internet identities, none of which are her. From 10-noon she's a singer. From 4-midnight, a dazzling agent.

My theory (and it's only a theory) is that SHE is a heavyset woman who chainsmokes in her trailer. She lives on Raman Noodles but spends the bulk of her disability check on really good wireless for her buggy old laptop. She sucks back Parliaments, drinks lots of Vodka out of a murky glass, and complains about her back frequently.

(Slipped on the ice at the Piggly Wiggly... hence the checks.)

*shrug* Whatevah.
 

NicoleJLeBoeuf

a work in progress
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,496
Reaction score
580
Location
Boulder, Colorado
Website
www.nicolejleboeuf.com
Now, now. Let's not smear the many honest people who fit that description in that they live in trailers, or are on disability, or smoke, or drink vodka, or have bad backs, as though any of those things were somehow morally equivalent with being Babs. It is far easier, and fairer, to insult Babs simply by calling her by her name.
 

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
5,363
Reaction score
1,761
Location
Getting blitzed at Gillhoughly's Reef, Haleakaloha
Amusing as that image is, it skates close to personal abuse, which is off-topic. We all have an opinion on the person, and can agree that she's not likely to get an invite to any of the fun parties.

I would suggest shifting that post to a personal blog, rather keeping it on this forum. I'm not trying to be huffy, but she has done the deed with the law, and there is no need to feed her more fuel.

Her filing suit could be the worst thing she's ever done in a long line of mistakes, but she has filed on a very tricky little detail. She is not suing them for libel or slander, but for interfering with her business.

There is some meat on that bone, for public discussion of her business practices has apparently been working, cutting into her income.

Now shoddy as those practices are, (and understanding I'm not a lawyer!) they may not be technically illegal. In New Jersey they might have one of those "buyer beware" things going.

No one twists the arms of her "clients" to make them write her checks. They willingly send her money. The way publishing is set up there is no guarantee a book will sell; all she has to do is make a token effort and her a&& is covered so far as the law is concerned.

If her victims all banded together in a counter-suit they would have to prove that she did not make an effort on their behalf--which is a very hard thing to do.

If there are writers out there who feel they have been scammed by BBLA, then please get in touch with Writer Beware and provide details, names, dates, and sums involved.

Also, the law moves VERY slowly. So far as I know, no paperwork has been served to anyone named, yet they've been effectively shut up by the suit.

She's won that round. So long as no papers are served, things are in limbo, and she might want to keep them there. So long as people are unable to warn others, she can prey on uninformed neos.

If anyone is in a position to goose things along with the New Jersey justice system, that would be a good thing, otherwise this could drag on for years. She'd like that.

The only other thing I can think of to derail her is to ask the IRS to check her out. If she cheats clients, she might also cheat on her taxes.

What are the odds?
 

KCH

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Messages
291
Reaction score
54
I've not followed this saga in great detail...so there may be explanation for an apparent contradiction in what I'm reading. Someone help me out here...
supposedly a complaint has been filed with the court against several named individuals and yet none of these individuals have themselves been served? A court filing includes requirement of affidavit of service (or attempt at service) to parties named in a suit. I can understand some timeline discrepancy in people actually receiving a mailing or personal service, but to have NONE of the named parties in receipt of paperwork seems pretty strange.
 

MMcC

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 19, 2006
Messages
311
Reaction score
59
Location
New England
Website
maureenmccarrie.blogspot.com
Just to respond to the "cutting into her income" facet... one of the points that has been made repeatedly from the first moment she landed on Pred/Ed and Snark was/is that she can't seem to show any actual income.

Which is how we ended up here. One can't demand repairations for income lost that never existed to begin with.
 

mdin

The late, the great XThe NavigatorX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
2,376
Reaction score
539
Location
Seattle, WA
Website
www.mattdinniman.com
Wikipedia folded to her, deleting her entry under the guise of administrative review. There was a pretty clear consensus, imo, to keep the article, but it got canned anyway.
 

Berry

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 3, 2005
Messages
187
Reaction score
30
Location
The Heart of the Groove
supposedly a complaint has been filed with the court against several named individuals and yet none of these individuals have themselves been served? A court filing includes requirement of affidavit of service (or attempt at service) to parties named in a suit

I may be wrong, but I think the timeline goes: Plaintiff files a complaint with the court naming one or more defendants. Court issues summons to the defendants. The plaintiff or her attorneys or agents arrange service of the summonses on the defendants. Then the defendants file pleadings (called "answers") and the proceedings move on to "discovery", which is where everyone gets to look at Babs' business records.

So there could be a complaint filed and not served on the defendants yet.

This all varies from state to state, of course, just to add to the fun.

And I could be completely wrong. I'm just sitting here eating the popcorn, watching the fun. Have some? I got extra butter.
 

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
5,363
Reaction score
1,761
Location
Getting blitzed at Gillhoughly's Reef, Haleakaloha
Which is how we ended up here. One can't demand repairations for income lost that never existed to begin with.

I should have clarified. I meant the income she gets from the gormless gulls who send her checks so she can represent their books. She charges 350.-1000. a pop; it adds up!

Clearly we have been effective in warning people away from her, and she is feeling the pinch. My goodness, she might have to fall back on her singing career to take up the slack!
icon10.gif
 

DaveKuzminski

Preditors & Editors
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
5,036
Reaction score
859
Location
Virginia
Website
anotherealm.com
I predict that she'll next sue livemaps because it shows her light blue, two-story house with the double garage.
 

MichaelDeVere

Banned
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
300
Reaction score
66
Location
Under the troll bridge.
I should have clarified. I meant the income she gets from the gormless gulls who send her checks so she can represent their books. She charges 350.-1000. a pop; it adds up!

Clearly we have been effective in warning people away from her, and she is feeling the pinch. My goodness, she might have to fall back on her singing career to take up the slack!
icon10.gif


That which has been seen, cannot be unseen.
 

DaveKuzminski

Preditors & Editors
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
5,036
Reaction score
859
Location
Virginia
Website
anotherealm.com
In fact, the address for her agency matches up with what appears to be a residence according to livemaps. That appears to verify what one alleged former employee of hers had to say about working conditions. That ought to be a real confidence builder for her clients to know that she can't even afford to operate an office outside of her home.
 

LeslieB

Geek Unique
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
507
Reaction score
95
Location
Florida - A sunny place for shady people
In fact, the address for her agency matches up with what appears to be a residence according to livemaps. That appears to verify what one alleged former employee of hers had to say about working conditions. That ought to be a real confidence builder for her clients to know that she can't even afford to operate an office outside of her home.


To be fair, though, lots of people have offices in their homes. My father has his accounting office in my folks house, though unlike most home offices it has its own entrance and a waiting room. My parents live in a small town, and his attitude is why waste the money to have an office a quarter mile from the house?
 

Bartholomew

Comic guy
Kind Benefactor
Poetry Book Collaborator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 2, 2006
Messages
8,507
Reaction score
1,956
Location
Kansas! Again.
To be fair, though, lots of people have offices in their homes. My father has his accounting office in my folks house, though unlike most home offices it has its own entrance and a waiting room. My parents live in a small town, and his attitude is why waste the money to have an office a quarter mile from the house?

It'll be a bright, lukewarm day in Hell before I am ever fair with Bauer. Any trouble she gets, she has strictly earned.
 

LeslieB

Geek Unique
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
507
Reaction score
95
Location
Florida - A sunny place for shady people
It'll be a bright, lukewarm day in Hell before I am ever fair with Bauer. Any trouble she gets, she has strictly earned.

Well, technically I wasn't defending her, I was defending people who use home offices. There are a lot of competent professionals out there who for one reason or another think paying for a room to drive to and do the exact same work they could do ten feet from their kitchen is a waste of money.
 

Bartholomew

Comic guy
Kind Benefactor
Poetry Book Collaborator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 2, 2006
Messages
8,507
Reaction score
1,956
Location
Kansas! Again.
Well, technically I wasn't defending her, I was defending people who use home offices. There are a lot of competent professionals out there who for one reason or another think paying for a room to drive to and do the exact same work they could do ten feet from their kitchen is a waste of money.

That'd be so nice. :(
 

Khazarkhum

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
725
Reaction score
100
I predict that she'll next sue livemaps because it shows her light blue, two-story house with the double garage.

Shades of Barbra Striesand. She sued the California Coastal Records Project for photographing her house while taking pictures for erosion studies. FWIW, she lost.
 

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
20,006
Reaction score
5,352
Location
Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fu
If you go by the tenets of the Communications Decency Act, the lawsuit should be dismissed. *shrug* Wiki, and its owner, are immune.

Seems pretty clear cut to me. The whole concept of wiki is third party content, after all.
 
Last edited:

DaveKuzminski

Preditors & Editors
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
5,036
Reaction score
859
Location
Virginia
Website
anotherealm.com
In New Jersey State Court today, Barbara Bauer's complaints against Wikimedia were dismissed, all but one with prejudice.